Comcast Customer Service: Hiding promotions and Not listening to your needs!

Today I have experienced another problem with Comcast! Let me begin by saying I chose to go with Comcast for internet service when I moved to a new area for medical school because the cable that was provided with my apartment was through them.

My first problem with Comcast was when I initially called to set up my service. I first called to talk to a representative about their internet packages. I told the representative that I basically only needed internet to check my email and read the news. Following this, I asked the person on the other line if they had any special student rates ( as I had with charter for college.) the rep of course said no and tried to get me to sign up for the high end internet package even though I explained i didn't need the speed because I didn't download a lot of material and I was not a "gamer." After 5-10 minutes, I asked him why I saw commercials for a $19.99 internet package on TV every fifteen minutes if it was not available. He "mysteriously" found this deal in the computer.

After the six month period, i got the ridiculous bill for $43 ( the standard price). I called Comcast with the full intention of canceling my service as I can get AT&T internet for $19.95 a month. I told her my service with Comcast had been excellent and I did not want to get rid of it but that i was already paying $40,000 for tuition a year and really needed to save every penny I could. She told me that it was no problem and she understood and said she would be able to resume my internet at $19.99 a month for three months. I expressed my thanks, but said that in the long run this won't work for me because I will still have to pay the $43 dollars eventually. She told me to call back after this ran out and we should be able to work out a deal that works for me.

Today I called Comcast because I received the standard rate bill of ~$43 and was looking to either downgrade my service to something I could afford or cancel my service. This is where it got good... I told the representative that I wanted to cancel my service or switch to a plan that was more in my budget. She first told me their was nothing that she could do for me and mentioned that most of my bill was paid by the apartment complex (though technically I do pay for this as I pay rent). I told her that was fine and I wanted to cancel my service. At this point, she "found" a $5 off coupon she could add to my account. Again, I told her this did nothing to help my situation because it still would cost me almost double as AT&T. I mentioned that AT&T had a pretty good track record in my book as i have my CELL phone through them. She proceeded to try get my to subscribe their phone service. I thought this is ridiculous, I am trying to lower my bill and she is trying to get me to subscribe to more products! At this point, she decided to tell me AT&Ts speeds were slow and "that's what she call DSL speed." I then told her how little I use my internet and that a slower speed wouldn't matter. she then compared the speeds for me ( acting like i would care even though I told her I didn't need speed). I told her 12 mbps was excessive for my use and wanted to know if they had anything slower. She followed this up with "We are not the king of internet for nothing." She passively mentioned that their was a service for $24.99 but it was slow and I didn't want it and proceeded to tell the best she is $37.99. At this point I told them I would call them back to finalize my cancellation because I am in the middle of finals and don't have time to take my box to the drop center.

I understand a companies need to make money, but Comcast has not listened to any of my needs and from day one, tried to shove their most expensive high end package down my throat. While I have no problem with their service, my problem is with their inability to listen to my needs and the policy of holding back appealing rates in order to make money.

I plan on calling Comcast back next friday when i am done with finals to cancel my service. While a rate of $19.99 would be nice and convenient, i don't have time to call back every three months and deal with this. I plan to subscribe to the cheaper AT&T.